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作者

Andrew Demshuk

来源

JOURNAL OF URBAN HISTORY,Vol.47,Issue2,P.420–449

语言

英文

关键字

作者单位

1American University, Washington, DC, USA

摘要

Through research in former East German Leipzig, this article explores how and why architecturally and historically valuable landmarks seldom sustain or even gain ideological resonance. Applying theories about ideology as an “event,” it frames ideological resonance as something contingent and fleeting. Demolition and neglect often have less to do with ideology and more with lack of interest, which translates into lack of investment. Shifting interpretations of “beauty” also regularly determine what should get blasted or reconstructed. Even if individual landmarks lack ideological resonance, however, demolitions or decay can yield a cumulative effect prompting outcry against a perceived trend. Leipzig officials thus turned to save historical architecture, because they feared public displeasure that undercut their own legitimacy. That Leipzig sparked the 1989 Revolution in East Germany proves that the cumulative demolition and decay of buildings lacking ideological ascription could generate a profound ideological outcome.